Attacks on hospital staff in NHS Lanarkshire

Assaults, verbal abuse and harassment were all recorded between 2011 and 2013.

There were 82 attacks on staff at hospitals in Lanarkshire over the past two years.

Assaults, verbal abuse and harassment were all recorded between 2011 and 2013.

Staff at Wishaw General suffered the highest number of attacks, with 35 incidents of verbal abuse towards staff, seven assaults by patients, four cases of inappropriate violent behaviour and one accusation of harassment.

Another five attacks on staff at Wishaw were classed as ‘other’.

Staff at Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride, suffered a total of 19 attacks over the past two years.

There was also one case of alleged harassment along with 11 incidents of verbal abuse, five assaults by patients and two cases of inappropriate violent behaviour.

At Monklands Hospital in Airdrie over the same period, there were six verbal attacks, three cases of inappropriate violent behaviour and one assault.

Across the three hospitals, Saturday and Thursday were the days of the week that saw the highest number of attacks.

Over the two-year period, there were 17 attacks on Saturdays and 17 attacks on Thursdays. Fridays saw the lowest number of attacks, with only seven between 2011 and 2013.

Nurses suffered 37 of the 82 attacks on hospital staff in NHS Lanarkshire, while four medical staff were attacked along with one member of administration staff. For the other 40 attacks the job of the staff member was not recorded.

There were 53 attacks during 2011/2012 and 29 during 2012/2013.

A spokesperson for NHS Lanarkshire said: “While no one should be subjected to abuse at work, either verbal or physical, it is good to see an overall reduction in the number of incidents.

“We encourage staff to record all incidents and have robust procedures in place to ensure that support is provided to our staff.

“NHS Lanarkshire operates a zero tolerance policy against anyone who is knowingly violent or aggressive towards any of our staff and we are continually working in partnership with local police in the management of aggressive and violent individuals.”